The event was held to celebrate all the people who were associated with the After School All Stars Program that have been there since day one, and for those who didn’t hesitate to follow all the ASAS program rules.
During the event, people went outside and played games like football and dodgeball, while Mr. Washington, the school’s Climate Manager, grilled for those in attendance some good food like sandwiches, chips, burgers and hotdogs.
See above photo gallery for snapshots of the ASAS event.
Conwell Cougars.Blog Photographer, A. Vega, has put together a photo gallery of the championship game of flag foot ball that took place on May 18 ,
Blue team the Cougar Selects triumphed over the Green team Hawks, 34 – 38
They played a true championship game, and while the Hawks fought and tried super hard, the Cougar Selects fought just a little stronger and only won by four points with just 10 seconds left in the game .
Editor’s Note: 6ABC reporter Matteo did a fantastic story that featured Mr. Washington and how his Police Athletic League experience helped pave the way for the Conwell Flag Football League.
The PA Ballet program ran through September to May, ultimately ending with a final performance on May 5, 2023. Conwell Middle School students were taught three dances to practice, Jazz Dance, Bachata and The Finale Dance. The final dance, There were nine different other schools, all dressed in different colors while Conwell was dressed in green.
“Just the thought of them performing in front of lots of people, makes it all worth it,” Ms. Maria, Conwell School Secretary and After School All Stars coordinator for the school, said.
Ms. Maria has stated that the students learn discipline, cooperation and also learn how to be precise. One of the performers had also received a scholarship to a dance school, however they are going to receive this recognition later during the 8th grade award ceremony.
Ms. Maria also looks forward to more participation in the next school year and she encourages everyone to join, male and female, dancer or not, she still encourages everyone to join.
Check out the above video to see the 2022-2023 Conwell PA Ballet dancers in action, during their performance at the Cherry St. Pier on May 5.
Editor’s Note – Footage from the recital courtesy of Ms. Maria and Conwell Parent Ms. Palmer.
Photo Gallery of Shelice’s Angels Field Trip by A. Peralta-62 and R. Rowan -71 CCB Staff
Recently, a group of young women from Conwell Middle Magnet School got the privilege to go out of state to see the Meta Facebook Company in action.
On Friday, May 5, Zaire Franklin, one of the linebackers for the Indianapolis Colts, gave them the opportunity to meet with important workers at the colorful, technology full, Meta Facebook Company, through his nonprofit organization Shelice’s Angels.
According to the Shelice’s Angels website, the aim of the nonprofit is to educate young people about the greater world around them.
The girls on this trip got on a luxury bus and drove 2 hours to New York City. Franklin talked a little about how he named the trip.
“I named you all the ‘Shelice Angels’ because my mother’s name was Shelice, “ Mr. Franklin stated. “She was very dear to me because I grew up with her, and learned a lot.”
Franklin went to Conwell Middle Magnet School before becoming a professional football player. Since graduating Conwell, he has made several visits to our school for motivational talks. One of his recent visits to his alma mater even brough NFL Films.
“I learned to do more than my limits, “ Zaire explained of his time at Conwell. He added that his mother saw his potential in himself that helped lead to his successes.
In the beginning of the Meta Facebook field trip, the girls were allowed to do a Question and Answer to learn more about how the Meta Company operated.
“People make mistakes, believe me I did a lot,” Ms. Lauren, one of the Meta Facebook employees told the students during the Q and A part of the tour. “You can’t take those back, so don’t think about what you could have done, and start thinking about what you can do in the future to make it better.”
All the workers that were in this Q and A, had no idea that they would be working at the Meta company. They all had ideas in being an athlete, or a technologist. In fact, some said that they didn’t even know this company existed!
There were nearly 30 people that went on the Shelice’s Angels trip. There were 7 chaperones, including Principal Green and Ms. Branch. According to Ms. Green, Meta Facebook provided the other chaperones.
The chaperones split everyone into groups, and took them for ice cream and to see the breath-taking New York City skyline on the company’s roof.
“The view was beautiful! “ J. Rivera of section 62 stated. “I would definitely go there again!”
Everyone who participated got Indianapolis Colts hats, and Shelice’s Angels shirts.
This photo art gallery, by Conwell Middle Magnet School student art photographer K. Miller – 72, was a beautiful look into the budding spring-time feeling one gets when walking through nature. K. Miller, along with her family, took a trip to Silver Lake Nature Center, in Bristol, where they spent the day exploring and capturing the beauty that is growing right in front of our eyes.
To check out her photo gallery, play the video above.
Editor’s Note: If you’d like to submit your artwork to the CCB, please email gdungan@philasd.org.
The McPherson Square Library – Photo Credit to Bryan Belknap
Conwell Middle Magnet students and their families are invited to attend the McPherson Library Job fair on April 13, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m. The Job fair is a collaboration that includes 36 organizations and agencies offering jobs for the youth during the summer.
“Working at the library, I have seen teens struggle to get summer jobs,” said Bryan Belknap Belknap, Lead LEAP/Maker Mentor at McPherson Square Library, said in an email to the Conwell Cougars Blog. “So, we wanted an event that makes it easier for teens to get summer jobs.”
Belknap, who is organizing this event with the help from Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, Impact Services, and the Friends of McPherson group, said that this is the second year the library is hosting the job fair. According to Belknap, the minimum age requirement for youth to be eligible for a summer job is 12 years old. However, Belknap said that all ages and people are welcome to attend the Job fair.
Poster Provided By Bryan Belknap – Lead LEAP/Maker Mentor
“There is no requirement to attend the event. Everyone is welcomed,” Said Belknap. “We encourage all teens that are interested in summer jobs to attend and bring a friend.”
During the job fair, students will need to create resumes and applications in order to sign up for summer jobs. Adults at the job fair will help guide students during the process and help give students valuable information about signing up for a job.
“We want to reduce the barriers that keep teens from summer jobs,” Belknap said. “Creating a resume and filling out applications are important steps in getting a job.”
The McPherson Library encourages teenagers that are interested in a summer job to attend the Job fair with their peers and friends. McPherson library is also giving out $50 and $100 in debit gift cards for the 2 people who bring along the most friends and peers to attend the McPherson Job fair.
Poster Provided By Bryan Belknap – Lead LEAP/Maker Mentor
According to Belknap, The person in first place will receive the $100 debit gift card and 2nd place will receive $50 in debit gift cards. In order to qualify for the gift card prizes, students must tag each other and use a hashtag for the event. Students are encouraged to post a selfie in front of the Instagram wall that will be presented at the job fair. Teenagers can only tag 1 person, if they tag more than one person, then only the first tag will count. People without Instagram accounts are advised to find Mr. Belknap in order for him to count them.
The McPherson Library is located at 601 E Indiana Ave, Philadelphia, PA. According to Belknap, the Job fair will be held there due to the easy accessibility and location of the library, being in a central part of Kensington.
Below is a slideshow gallery list of the attending vendors at the April 13, 2023, McPherson Job Fair.
Editor’s Note: This poem was written by A. Snowden in honor of Women’s History Month. The poem was read in its entirety on the live Friday, “At Conwell We Are On!” Zoom show on 3/31/23.
Better Late Than Never
We celebrate women today Because back then, they weren’t celebrated in any way They were treated unfairly, different from men They did so much, but then …
They still were treated unequally, it wasn’t fair! So, they marched and marched, as they dare
People saw the issue and sought help They kept marching … and, welp …
The women were free to do whatever But til this day, women are still under the weather They are still paid little, more about Someone has to do something, this isn’t allowed! But as I always say, you’ll see one day
The Watershed team, as part of the After School All Stars (ASAS) program, visited and played activities with the students present in the program. The Watershed team comprised of four coordinators: Peter, Avarree, CJ and Nathanial. They educate students about the environment, nature and its organisms.
According to Peter, their primary goal is to be able to initiate discussions that help influence the prevention of pollution, contamination and overall harm to water sources. The Watershed team plans to hopefully take students to explore and take trips to visit and work in community gardens.
“I’ve had a lot of fun in the Watershed program, they taught me things in a way I can understand.” – A. Peralta, a sixth grade student, said.
Graphic Art by A.Peralta 83
Activities that Students and the Coordinators have done were games that included hand signs, physical movement, guessing games and a mixture of all. These activities symbolized Nature and environmental related subjects.
They offer other alternative activities for students who wish not to participate in the selected game, such as coloring and paper activities and small science experiments such as kits.
“We’re really excited to get to work with students across Philadelphia to learn about Environmental Awareness” – Peter, A Watershed coordinator, said.
The Watershed program will be available on Mondays in After School All Stars. If you would like to experience the program for yourself, please contact Ms. Maria in order to sign up for After School All Stars.
Conwell introduced their first Conwell Speaker Series on Feb. 8. Every other Wednesday throughout the month, people are invited to a Zoom meeting with the students at Conwell.
What is the Conwell Speaker series?
The Conwell speaker series is when a professional comes in to speak to students and teach them about the things they do for their careers. The series is held in every teacher’s homeroom as a whole-school assembly.
The first speaker this year was Ellen Weber, whose job it is to help small businesses.
Weber was talking about how her business, Robin Hood Ventures has a special program called, Angels: Team, Market, & Product.
Weber said, “Most people look at the product, but really you need to look at the people.”
She said it takes 5-10 years for the entrepreneur to get their money back. She invested in: Brilliant Pad, Simply good, & charge it spot.
At the Zoom meeting, Weber was explaining how she helps small businesses get more popular.
Ms Katie – Nurse Practitioner for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia came to talk to Conwell on Feb. 27.
Ms. Katie went to college twice, and started an early educational job. She went to Korea and learned about her culture and language. She did four years of university and another 2 years to earn a Master’s Degree. In 2005 she got a job as a nurse extern. When she finished she started her job as a nurse. Since 2009, she’s been a Nurse Practitioner. She teaches all types her biggest difference was that Katie never wore a mask before the pandemic.
Ms Katie has taken care of kids with arduous injuries. |
“Don’t get frustrated when you’re doing classes, pay attention to your teachers because it will assist you,” said Ms Katie.
Robyn S was our latest special guest on zoom on March 15th.
She currently works at NBC UNIVERSAL as an associate with Data Strategy.
Robyn breaks down the data and value by common to least common and said that learning how to read data is important.
Robyn first wanted to be a doctor, but she was discouraged to go any further because of how bad she thought she was doing.
Robyn uses data with weather, basketball games and decision making.
They base most data when it depends on how many people are entertained by that specific subject compared by another subject.
She said that she came in to encourage the kids to follow their dreams.
“Not everything might fit you based on your skill set,” she said, explaining that you won’t know until you try.
Mr. Washington, Conwell Climate Manager, showcasing one of the footballs to be used in the upcoming Flag Football Program at Conwell. – Photo by A. Vega-82 – CCB Photographer
Mr. Washington, Conwell Middle Magnet School Climate Manager, is hosting a flag football team. Every morning, Groups of students from all grades, boys and girls come early to play.
Flag football starts this Spring from March 6 to the middle of May. According to Mr. Washington, the times for the games will be from 6.45 to 7.15 a.m., and will occur between 2 to 3 days a week, particularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some sources say, if the program goes well, it might extend to after-school hours.
Mr. Washington says that there will be forms to contact parents for their permission to participate in the program. According to Mr. Washington, parents are not allowed to be there for safety purposes.
Mr. Washington believes that there should be no contact in the flag football game, as is the reason for the flags in flag football. Mr. Washington hopes to make sure the team is well trained and ready for the future before they will play flag football.
“The purpose of the program is to make sure that the players are learning to play as a team,” Mr. Washington said.
According to Mr Washington, Principal Green said that there might be Jerseys for players who sign up. When the teams win, they will be awarded with a trophy.
Years back, Mr. Washington was in middle school and he played flag football. Mr Washington said he enjoyed the sport because of the team. He was encouraged by the team and had an idea that he would start his own flag football team for the students of Conwell Middle Magnet School.
editor’s note: to sign up for the the Conwell Flag Football Team, contact Mr. Washington at JWashington4@philasd.org
Edited by A. Peralta-83-CCB Staff – Posted by K. Velasquez-83 – CCB Staff.
Graphic Art Created By E. Vega 72 and K. Valasqeuz 83 –CCB Staff
Well… They lost. Eagles fans around Philadelphia are still salty about their 35-38 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs in the epic showdown
That doesn’t stop the football, however. There is still more sports to be played.
Instead of the Philadelphia Eagles, we have the Philadelphia Stars. Instead of the Kansas City Chiefs, we have the St. Louis Battlehawks. In fact, this is the second time that these two leagues try to start a league besides the NFL: The XFL and USFL.
The USFL was around in the 80s and was once extremely popular with many famous players and celebrities going into the league. The XFL was made in the 2000s and quickly devolved due to low attendance.
In 2020, The XFL restarted and began making better moves than its counterpart.
However nobody knew how to run a league in a whole pandemic so the first season of its return was cancelled.
The success overshadowed the XFL and its predecessors. It was one of the first times when a spring league actually did well in its first season (Besides the Arena Football League and FCF – Fan Controlled Football) and it was a sensation as the first championship was a showdown between the Philadelphia Stars and Birmingham Stallions in which the Stallions won in a close 30-33 game. It was also the first of four straight championship losses by a Philadelphia Team that year.
But anyways, hype was up for the league’s next season as even the MVP in the league was getting known in the NFL. The XFL game came back with … The Rock?
But anyways, so far the XFL is doing exceptionally well with many Internet sensations being created off of the creative rules and teams in the game of the XFL.
The USFL is also being hyped up with its next season starting on April 15, 2023.
Editor’s Note: Have an idea for a student column? Email Mr. Dungan at gdungan@philasd.org
Edited by A. Peralta-83 – Posted by K. Velasquez – 83-CCB Staff
The event was created by Conwell’s Black History Month Committee, and featured:
CCB student Interviews
African Music
African Dances
Different Flags
Different foods
Posters of Black History
Colorful slideshows about Black History
Students were dancing, singing, and there were positive feedback all around!
“The Celebration was really interesting to see and learn about all the foods”, J. Rivera of section 6 – 2 stated as she described what it was like to see this presentation. ” I would defiantly see this again.”
Check out the student video interviews that were featured in the school assembly:
N. Fanfan-83 CCB Contributor interviews A. Mejias about her Dominican Republic heritage.
K. Velasquez-83-CCB Lead Graphic Artist interviews L. Victoriano-83 about her Trinidadian heritage.
M. Hernandez – 61 – CCB Contributor interviews O. Colon about her African American heritage.
A. Mejias-83 – CCB Contributor interviews Conwell Middle Magnet School’s Nurse Tosin about her Nigerian Heritage.
A. Mejias – 83 – CCB Contributor interviews N. Fanfan-83 about her Haitian heritage.
Editor’s Note: Videos were produced by members of the CCB Graphic Arts Team: K. Velasquez-83, A. Vega-82, and A. Peralta – 83.
This is a Drawing of Fannie Lou Hamer, an African American Civil Rights activist in the 1960s, who may be best remembered for her effort to bring hundreds of college students of all backgrounds, races and creeds to help with African American voter registration, according to womenhistory.org.
The artist, Conwell Middle Magnet Student N. Holland said that she made this depiction of Fannie Lou Hamer because, according to Ms. C. Green, special education assistant, N. Holland was asked to draw the image of the Civil Rights activist as they were reading a book about her in class.
Edited by J. Boggs-Mendaloski -61 CCB Staff and Posted by CCB Staff
6ABC reporter Matteo Iadonisi (left) talks with Conwell Middle Magnet Teacher Mr. Posnan about the Media Lab Fundraising efforts. – All Photos in this article by I. Speier – 61 – CCB Reporter.
Conwell Middle Magnet School is full STEAM ahead as thousands of dollars in donations have come in to help build a brand-new media lab. The donation efforts were led by Mr. Posnan, Conwell 5th-and 6th-grade Science teacher, to help the school’s Journalism and Media Arts program. The program will help kids reach their goal of being a writer or journalist.
The program will help kids publish their stories or drawings and more, so they can make kids’ dreams come true like they do here on the ConwellCougars.Blog.
“And they want kids to be good writers,” said 6ABC reporter Matteo Iadonisi. “They also would like a good life for the kids that like writing.
Mr. Iadonisi came to visit Mr. Posnan’s classroom to report on the media lab fundraising back in January. At the time of this publication, there was over $22,000 in donations.
“It’s nice how much people care about the media lab,” Mr. Iadonisi said.
According to Mr. Posnan, they’re going to buy iPads, green screens, video equipment, sound studio furnishings, editing software, etc. Right now, the school is trying to find a good, quiet and spaced room.
“Each day, they persevere. Each day, they walk through a million reasons to give up, yet each day, they persist,” said Mr. Posnan
Students at Conwell are excited for the opportunity to get their voices heard.
“I think that this is a really great thing, A. Rodriguez-61 said. “I think it will really help with students’ problems and it will probably help them with their future jobs.”
Editor’s note:
Click this link for more information about the Conwell Middle Magnet School’s Media Lab Fundraiser.
Conwell Middle Magnet Students with more than 90-percent attendance recently earned free dress-down passes. – Photo by J. Boggs-Mendaloski-CCB Editorial Staff
The Attendance Dress Down event has passed for the Conwell Cougars! According to Conwell Middle Magnet School counselor, Mr. Ford, this event was for selected students who had accomplished 90% or more attendance.
These students had the ability to dress down for free for 3 days. This event showed how most students stay in school and their determination to have a good attendance. Mr. Ford, o handed out the certificates to all the students who reached this goal.
“Being here is half the battle,” said Mr. Ford.
“Being here is half the battle.” – Mr Ford, Conwell Middle Magnet School Counselor
Mr. Ford holds up the coveted attendance incentive pass. Photo by J. Boggs-Mendaloski-61 – CCB Staff
The trailer begins with Shuri holding the mask of her fallen brother T-Challah (Chadwick Boseman).
All the Wakandians are marching while wearing white, their color of mourning as seen in the 2018 film, Black Panther. Remora, knowing how hard it is, decides to hold Shuri’s hand to comfort her while she is walking down. Next we see the Wakandians marching while two statues one of the two being Bashinga the first Black Planther and the other one being his wife and I believe the statues represent the Black Panther going from male to female, after a long period of time.
Next we see Namor painting a god. The god I believe he is painting is the feathered serpent from Mayan Mythology. This shows that Namor is a follower of the feathered serpent, probably the avatar of this god as well, like how the Black Panther is an avatar of the Panther God which took gods that I didn’t think was in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (616) but I guess they are. Next we see Shuri making a Wakandian salute with her tattoo, which if you look closer you can see that the tattoo is really Vibranium atoms.
Then we hear Namor saying “Only the most broken people can make great leaders” pointing to him and Shuri. We also see a mural of T-Challah (Chadwick Boseman) and the mural says “The king lives in the black panther that is forever in us, rest with the ancestors” then we see Namors kingdom and we get a closer look at Namors helmet and we see that his helmet is a feathered serpent which is more evidence that Namor is the avatar of the feathered serpent.
Then we hear MBaku saying “His people do not call him general or king they call him the feathered serpent” and that quote is even more evidence that Namor is the avatar of the feathered serpent. Then we see the new Black Panther with the same dots on her face and forehead as Shuri, possibly confirming Shuri is the new Black Panther. This paragraph is my trailer breakdown of black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Editor’s note: If you would like to submit a review for any media related content, Please contact gdungan@gmail.com
Contest By Y. Hiraldo – 61 – CCB Editor — With Graphic Arts by N. Champion – CCB Staff — With reporting by R. Rowan – 72 – CCB – Editor
The Conwell Cougars Blog will be holding another contest in honor of Black History Month, and we’re focusing it around the amazing bulletin board outside of Room 108, titled “Black History Month, Celebrating African American Greats” where students can match impressive historic facts with the correct African American figures.
In order to enter this contest, you must:
1. Read the bulletin board next to room 108
2. Match at least ONE fact from the Room 108 Bulletin Board article to the person!
3. First three students to comment the correct matches will win a CCB-Sponsored free pass to the next Cougar – Cash in or get their name automatically on the PRIZE WHEEL!!!
“You may not recognize some of these people,” Ms Clark said, explaining that she had chosen these individuals in order to increase their popularity. “ We want to spread a little light!”
Students can make their comments by scrolling to the bottom of this post under where it says: LEAVE A REPLY.
The deadline is Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m.
See slideshow gallery above for more details on how to enter the contest!
Photo of Mr. Ford and the article’s author, R. Currid-72. Mr. Ford is the Conwell Middle Magnet School Counselor. Photo courtesy of Ms. Williams, Conwell SBTL.
This week is National Counselors Week. At Conwell Middle Magnet School we are celebrating our school’s counselor. Mr. Ford came to Conwell when the previous counselor was going out on sabbatical. Mr. Ford filled the spot in 2013 for half a year, and soon became our permanent counselor.
Before Mr. Ford was Conwell’s counselor, he said he was a teacher of Technology at an elementary school. In the second month of teaching, he thought he needed to help the kids more and soon he became a school counselor.
When Mr. Ford chose Conwell, he had many other choices. It turned out that Conwell was an easy choice for him.
When Mr. Ford was younger, he said that he was always good at school. However, he warned that students who think school is easy, and don’t need to give much effort, will need to give more effort at a Magnet school, such as Conwell Middle Magnet School.
“Work gets harder,” Mr. Ford said, “then you figure out smart people work hard.”
He went to all Philadelphia public schools, from second to 12th grade. At some point in high school decided to give himself a talk and said give it your best shot at the classroom and in sports and see what happens. It worked out that I was successful, got a college degree from West Chester University and the rest is history.
Editor’s note: Leave a comment here to say a quick word of thanks to Mr. Ford!
Video of CCB Reporter Y. Hiraldo’s – 61 interview with Conwell Middle Magnet School’s counselor Mr. Ford for National Counselors Week. – Video edit K. Velasquez – 83 – CCB Staff.
To hear Mr. Ford share a bit about his counseling philosophy through music, play the video above!
Conwell Cougars Blog 